He was told a technicality ­- the result of a mistake by Wirral Council planning officers ­- meant permission had been given by default.

Cllr Jones said: 'I feel gutted for the residents. They thought the plan had been defeated. This has come as a bolt from the blue ­- it is the lowest point of my eight years as a councillor.'

The application for the 15m tall mast, with three antennas, two dishes, a compound and an access road, was submitted by One2One in November 1999. It provoked strong opposition from residents, including a 700-name petition and 59 letters of objection.

They argued the installation at the bottom of their gardens, on land south of Greenhouse Farm, would be a visual intrusion in the Green Belt and a possible health risk close to three schools: Our Lady of Pity, Greasby County Junior School and Greasby Infants School.

Councillors on Wirral Council's planning committee agreed and rejected the bid at their January 6, 2000 meeting, 42 days after the application had been received.

Under rules on phone masts in force at that time, applicants had to be notified of the outcome within 42 days, but officers told One2One the next day ­ 43 days after receipt.

That meant the application went through by default, despite the wishes of residents and councillors, and allowed One2One to start building the installation.

As workmen moved in this week, Cllr Jones said the application, one of many phone mast bids affecting Greasby in recent years, should have been heard at a planning meeting held on December 9, 1999.

That would have given officers almost four weeks to inform One2One the plan had been rejected without falling foul of the time limit.

Cllr Jones is also angry officers did not tell him, as ward councillor, or residents once they realised their mistake.

He has now written 'a strong letter of complaint' to the council's planning director Jim Wilkie, but does not believe the application can be stopped.

Cllr Jones, whose wife Hilary serves Hoylake on Wirral Council, said residents in Rigby Drive were furious the mast would now be going ahead.

And he predicted many would themselves be complaining to the council, and possibly to the Local Government Ombudsman.

Cllr Jones, who is writing to all the residents in Rigby Drive to explain what has happened, also called for the rules to be changed to ensure an application can never again be given permission on a technicality.

'I think it is appalling that the wishes of councillors can be subverted in this way,' he said.